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Rare contemporary compilation of official accounts of Napoleon's campaign in Egypt

BERTHIER, Louis-Alexandre and Napoleon BONAPARTE.
Relation des expéditions d'Egypte et de Syrie, de la bataille d'Aboukir et de la reprise du fort de ce nom, par les troupes de la République Française, commandées par le célèbre Général Bonaparte.
Including:
BERTHIER, Louis-Alexandre. Éxpedition de Syrie.
BONAPARTE, Napoleon. Bataille d'Aboukir.
BONAPARTE, Napoleon. Reprise du fort d'Aboukir.
Paris, Pelletié, an VIII [=1799/1800]. 8vo. Modern half calf, original paste-paper boards. [1], [1 blank], [2], 3-148 pp.
€ 5,500
Rare account of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt (1798-1799), including Berthier's chronicle of the campaign and the official reports describing the Battle of Aboukir. Based on the various despatches sent to France in 1798, the first part describes the capture of Malta, the arrival in Alexandria, the Battle of the Pyramids and the revolt of Cairo. Of particular interest are several orders giving insight into the organization of French-occupied Egypt and concerning matters such as the distribution of bread, the free navigation of the Nile, the formation of a regiment consisting of former Mamluks and the establishment of a bureau to improve sanitation and prevent disease in Cairo. With its short-lived conquest of Egypt, France would introduce many modern ideas and inventions into the country, eventually leading to the independent and modernized Egyptian state under Mahammad Ali (1769-1849) and to the cultural renaissance in the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire.
The main part of the book consists of the official account written by General Berthier (1753-1815) for the French Minister of War and describing events from the capture of Malta to the Siege of Acre and the return of the French Army to Egypt. Following it are the two accounts written by Napoleon (1769-1821) for the Directorate and describing the Battle of Aboukir and the recapture of the fortress of Aboukir. All these accounts were published in instalments in the French newspapers, with the Relation appearing less than two weeks after the publication of the final instalment. By that time Napoleon had returned from Egypt, overthrown the Directorate and brought himself to power.
With the binding lightly rubbed. Lacking pp. 1-2. Slightly browned and with water stains on the title-page and the last 10 pp. "Annonces", in: La décade philosophique, 1 trimestre, no. 6 (an VIII/1799); CCFr (2 copies); "Nomenclature de livres militaires", in: Journal de la librairie militaire I (1875), p. 137; Van de Weyer, [Catalogue of the] Napoleon [library], p. 43; WorldCat (3 copies); cf. Hanley, the genesis of Napoleonic propaganda (Gutenberg e-book), Chapter 2.
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Related Subjects:

Africa  >  North Africa & Egypt
Middle east & islamic world  >  Africa
Military history  >  Battle Plans & Siegecraft | Military History 18th Century